I'm not a doctor, but I'm getting pretty good at using Web MD

So. The cardiologist's office called yesterday with the results from my Holter monitor.

"Your results were within normal limits."

Normal? You call losing my breath while sitting down doing nothing normal?

I was pretty upset after I hung up the phone. I felt like I'd wasted two days of my time and no-telling-how-much money, and every test I took seems to have come back as "normal."

I have a follow up appointment in about two weeks, so maybe I'll get more answers then. I sure as heck am going to ask more questions!

Looks like I need to fire up Web MD.

An update, of sorts

I don't have much new information on my heart, just yet. Jason dropped the monitor at the cardiologist's office last night, and it'll be a couple of days before I hear those results.

They did call today, and tell me that my thyroid is normal. I guess that's good news, except, don't we all kinda wish that our thyroid is to blame for things like weight gain and sluggishness, instead of our poor diets and lack of exercise?

Yeah, me too.

So thus far, all we know for sure is my thyroid is A-Ok. Hopefully the other results will be in sometime next week. My next face-to-face appointment is in two and a half weeks, and I'm really, REALLY hoping they won't wait that long to get back with me.

Thanks for the prayers!

How to: scare your kid

Just come home from the cardiologist's office with a bunch of wires hooked to you.

Yeah, that's what I did today.

I'm sorry I haven't gotten my Kroger Shakedowns from the past two weeks posted, but I've been dealing with a bit of a health issue over here.

I've had issues with my heart for years. In fact, before I was born, the doctor detected an irregular hearbeat. We've always chalked it up to my size (I was over nine pounds when I was born) and a stressful pregnancy (my mom was going to the city hospital because they were broke, and it was August in Memphis. 'Nuff said.)

When I was in college, right before I graduated, I ended up in the ER because of my heart rhythm. To be fair, I was 100 lbs. overweight, not taking care of myself AT ALL, eating a steady diet of junk, planning a wedding, and trying to finish school. Know what set off the episode? I opened my Visa bill from ordering my invitations.

Of course, that EKG came back perfectly normal.

Since I have lost weight, I haven't worried so much about my heart. I was still having the odd palpitation, but it really wasn't that serious - until last year.

For some reason, I was having episodes where I'd lay down at night to sleep, and my heart was pounding so hard I thought it would beat out of my chest. During the day, not only would my heart flutter, it would skip so many beats that it felt like it was turning flips trying to catch back up.

I almost fainted a couple of times walking around Walmart. And just sitting at my desk or in the car would bring a severe shortness of breath.

Since I didn't have insurance, I didn't feel like there was much I could do. I prayed. A lot. And it would get better. And then it would come back.

And then last year, I was able to buy insurance. The heart issues continued, but I'd visited an OBGYN who thought my uterus was tipped over and too big, and ordered an ultrasound. I figured I'd let myself get through one health crisis at a time, you know.

Well, my uterus is some sort of gymnast, because by golly, it's back where it needs to be. But my heart kept giving me problems.

So last week, after losing my breath while sitting at my desk, I asked a co-worker what cardiologist she used and made an appointment. I figured if my insurance didn't require a referral, it didn't make much sense to go to a general practitioner first, and waste that time and money just to end up at the specialist anyway.

So, Tuesday, I went. They performed an EKG, which showed my resting heart rate at over 100 bpm. Normal is under 80! I explained to the doctor that it felt like that at night when I was trying to sleep. He drew blood to check my thyroid, and scheduled me for a Holter Monitor and an echo cardiogram (basically an ultrasound of my heart - who knew?)

They were out of monitors yesterday, so I went back today. It was actually pretty cool to see my heart beating on that screen! The tech didn't say anything about what she saw, so I'm hoping it was normal.

Then, they put me into a monitor.

I've got five electrodes hooked to different parts of my body, and a small device the size of a cell phone on a lanyard around my neck. And I have to wear this contraption for 24 hours, meaning I not only have to sleep in it, but I also cannot shower tomorrow morning.

This ought to be fun.

I've been very open with Anna Marie about all of this, answering her questions about what happened at the doctor's office. But tonight, as I was putting her to bed, I could tell she was concerned about my condition.

So, we had a long talk. I told her that it was OK to admit she was concerned about me, and a little freaked out by all the wires stuck to me. I assured her that God was in control, and that no matter what happened, He would take care of all of us.

And then she asked me how much this visit was costing.

I explained about co-pays, and how I'd get a bill for part of the rest. From what I can gather, she was afraid that we wouldn't have the money to send her to camp this summer! I assured her that we had money set aside for camp, and that she didn't need to worry about that either.

I don't like sensing that she's upset. I want her to feel free to tell me how she feels, without worrying about whether those feelings are OK or not. I think she's just a little freaked out because she's never known me to go to doctors - I haven't had insurance since she was a baby.

Hopefully, this little experience will be good for the both of us. I will find out what's up with the old ticker, and Anna Marie will learn that she can talk to me about how she's feeling.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to get as much rest at this medical equipment will allow!

Book review: Mom's Bible

As a mom, I have found out that there are a lot of resources geared toward us: devotion books for moms, prayer journals for moms, and of course, Bibles for moms.

Mom's Bible: God's Wisdom for Mothers is one of the more useful of these resources I've found. It includes notes by Bobbie Wolgemuth, who has been writing Christian literature with the likes of Joni Eareckson Tada and Dr. John MacArthur. Sprinkled throughout the verses are tidbits with titles such as "Insights" and "Walking in . . ." It helps to have someone relate what I'm reading to my role as a mother, and how to develop the necessary Godly characteristics.

I also like the version they used for this edition. The New Century Version is very clear and easy to understand, and makes the reading flow very smoothly.

You can pick up your copy here or here.

When Irish eyes are smilin'

Yes, I know, today is NOT Saint Patrick's Day. I'm a day ahead. It's not my fault, though - my book club met today, and we had a three-pronged attack from the Emerald Isle. The three hostesses presented a lesson on the history of the holiday, a study of Irish authors, and an Irish sing-a-long by (a badly out-of-tune) piano.

And although I've never been to Ireland, it made me want to visit - or, at least, watch two of my favorite Irish-themed movies. I think Amanda introduced me to both of them, so I have her to thank.



Have you ever seen Waking Ned Divine? I think it's what you movie-types would refer to as a "black comedy." It's not the most well-known movie, but it's one I can watch over and over.

The other movie it made me want to see again is The Quiet Man. Maureen O'Hara, John Wayne, Ireland - need I say more? I'd love to show you this clip, but unfortunately you'll have to travel all the way to YouTube to see it - they've disabled embedding.

Anyone else have any favorite Irish-themed movies for this time of year?

Kroger Shakedown!

It's weeks like this when I LOVE my list. And this week, it wasn't even printed out!

Jason sings on the praise team at church, and he had to be there by 8:30 Sunday morning. Meaning we had to leave the house around 8:00 a.m. My list wasn't up yet, so I took my netbook, dropped him off, and by the time I got to some free wifi (thanks ATT Hotspot in the Starbucks parking lot!) there it was. I made my selections, printed out an "xps" document (kinda like a PDF, I think) and was ready to go.

(For the record, our church has wifi too. It also has a pretty extensive security key to keep folks from driving up in the parking lot and doing what I did at Starbucks, and I didn't know then that Jason had already programmed it into my netbook.)

Since I didn't have a physical printer handy, I took my netbook into the store, sat it in the "kiddie seat" of the cart, and shopped off the screen. Easy-peasy, but something I probably won't be making a habit of. The computer is so small, and blocked from the back by a sign on the back rest, but still - I never took my hand off the cart, and as soon as I was finished shopping I put the computer into my purse.

We'd had a dinner with a slew of my family at a restaurant, and didn't have much time, so having the list was a lifesaver!

Here's how the shakedown went down this week:

2 packages of styrofoam cups (not on my list, but we needed them for our small group meeting that night)
2 cans of Progresso lower-sodium chicken gumbo (paper coupon plus Shortcuts)
2 cans of Progresso lower-sodium vegetable soup (paper coupon only)
3 boxes of Fiber One bars (paper coupons plus Cellfire plus Shortcuts)
2 boxes of Nature Valley granola bars (paper coupons, plus Cellfire)
2 bottles of Dawn foam dish detergent
1 package Betty Crocker cookie mix (paper coupon plus Cellfire)
2 bags of Kroger 2% milk shredded cheese
1 king sized Reese's Cup (which was free, because Jason found a $1 off coupon when you purchase a 20 oz Coke and the candy was on sale for $1. I've taught him well!)
1 20 oz. Coke Zero
3.58 lbs of Fuji apples
2.54 lbs of bananas
4 bags of Green Giant frozen veggies
1 California Pizza Kitchen pizza (since I had to work covering a banquet Tuesday night, for the folks at home)
2 boxes of Toaster Strudels (paper coupon plus Cellfire)
1 Hormel pork loin (which we had in the crockpot yesterday!)
4 Lunchables

Total before coupons/savings: $101.11
Total after coupons/savings: $46.90
Total saved: $54.21 (55%)

I am really digging these electronic coupons added to my card, and I REALLY hope they keep offering them!

Do do do, lookin' out my back door . . .

Boy, do I feel dumb.

My house, in case I haven't told you before, backs up to the businesses on the south side of Main Street. There is, quite literally, a used car lot in my backyard.

Well, there is a drainage ditch which separates the two plots of property, but still, CAR LOT. BACKYARD.

There is a car detail business near there too, and on a sunny day the sound of a power washer just permeates the neighborhood for hours. Really adds to the charm of the place, no?

But back to the car lot. You know, the one in my BACKYARD?

That car lot hasn't been there long. In the five years we've been in this house, there has been a pet store, a home improvement business, and a different used car lot back there. Or maybe two car lots. I've lost count at this point.

The current car lot (which uses as its business name some generic "your credit is good here" sign which I'm pretty sure is copyrighted) has been there about six weeks.

About a week ago, Anna Marie complained that she couldn't sleep because a car horn kept going off. I figured one of the neighborhood cats or possums had triggered a car alarm, and that was par for the course.

But then - we came home Sunday night, and something like an 18-wheeler horn kept going off. I looked around for one (there aren't supposed to be any parked on the residential streets in town) but saw none. And then when I looked out my back door, I noticed lights on in the RV at the lot. And people moving around. And that horn kept going off, but I didn't call it in because I feel like I'm the only one who ever complains about such things in town.

(I know I'm not the only one who complains. I'm just sayin'.)

It stopped. And I thought maybe some teenagers had broken in there, but then this morning as we were leaving for school, I looked back there to find KIDS. With BACKPACKS. Also, I assume, leaving for school.

Someone is living over there, y'all. In an RV in a commercial zone. With kids. So I'm torn, because it's totally against the law to do that here, but there are KIDS. I don't want to put people out, not in this economy. I resolved to just let it slide, since maybe it was a temporary arrangement.

As long as there were no more horns involved.

So tonight, it started back up as I was trying to get Anna Marie down for bed. You know, in the room at the back of the house, just a few hundred feet from the car lot in my BACKYARD. And when I got finished tucking her in, I called the Sheriff's Department, and as the phone was ringing, I looked out my back door.

They were gone. GONE. I had not a clue what to tell that poor dispatcher, except that I was sorry I'd taken up his time. It wasn't the 911 line, just the regular number, but still.

OF COURSE THEY WERE GONE.

*Irony alert - part of my job is to go get the 911 dispatch logs and put the calls in the paper. Guess what I have to go do in the morning? I can't WAIT to see what they write about this call.

So, I feel really, really dumb. They were there, and now they aren't. And I've wasted a call to the dispatch office, which I now have the indignity to relive tomorrow morning when I read the log books.

It's like David Copperfield got all Las Vegas on that RV, and poof - thin air.

At least I called anonymously from my cell phone, so they won't know I was the crazy RV horn lady who called.

Edited to add: As I was finishing this up, guess what? THEY'RE BACK. And honkin' that horn like a boss! Boo-yeah, validation! Heck yeah, I called back. God a different dispatcher too. Guess I'd better go look out my back door one more time.

Who knew half a dozen sentences could be so hard?

Know how, when you're waiting a minute or two on something (like, say, a pregnancy test or some microwaved popcorn), and it would normally go by really quickly, but it doesn't, because you're counting the seconds?

Yeah, helping a second grader write eight sentences about her favorite type of whale is just like that.

I write for a living. For me, pounding out eight sentences on a subject is no big deal. But between her utter lack of typing skills, and her penchant for being distracted, writing eight sentences on Killer Whales took an hour.

And we nearly came to blows when the photo of a whale (a requirement for the report) which I'd found wasn't deemed suitable by Her Redheadedness.

I had her leave the couch where we were sitting to work on the report, and sit on the floor on her hippo chair. Because I needed a minute to COOL DOWN, as it were.

But the report (which is due Thursday) is done. I still have to buy a folder to put it in, but that's no big deal - shopping I can handle.

Writing eight sentences with an eight-year-old? Not so much.

What? I have how many years until she graduates?

Somebody make me another pot of coffee. This is going to be a long decade.

Kroger shakedown!

Special-Ops edition. Because I did my shopping in CAMO, and late at night!

We had a service entitled "Special Ops" at church on Sunday (where the pastor talked about our church's mission statement) and the choir all wore camo. Including me. Camo man pants to be exact, because I couldn't find any way-cheap camo LADY pants. The pastor and his wife rappelled out of the catwalk. The choir marched in to an old Carman song.

We sang some Stryper. It was all good.

I then walked around for about four hours, because we had our annual business meeting that night and never went home between services. So I had to wait until after 8 p.m., and I was WAY exhausted.

So my bleary-eyed, camo-clad crew and I made a mad dash through Kroger, and this is what happened:

2 cans of black beans
1 box of Krusteaz blueberry pancake mix
4 boxes of Nutri-grain bars
3 bottles of Wishbone dressing
3 cans of Red Gold tomatoes
1 bottle of Suave shampoo
1 bottle of Suave conditioner
2 bottles of Suave kids shampoo
1 stick of Suave deodorant
1 package of Glide floss
3 Cadbury eggs (OF COURSE)
1 gallon of chocolate milk (free, because I bought the four boxes of Nutri-grain bars)
5 lbs. of grapefruit
6 lbs. of clementines
1 bag of "overripe" bananas
2 boxes of Green Giant veggies (paper coupons plus Shortcuts)
1 Red Baron pizza

Total before coupons/sales: $79.31
Total after: $48.18
Total savings: $31.13 (41%)

Not as good as last week's, but the total is slightly deceiving - when clearance stuff, like those bananas, rings up, it doesn't calculate how much it WOULD have cost if it had been full price. They were 10 cents cheaper per pound because of their state of ripeness - which didn't really matter, because we ate them before they went bad anyway.

It looks like a really random assortment of groceries, but remember - stockpiling. That way I only buy what's on sale, and I have a rotation of groceries to go through.

I had also gone to Target that morning before church, and gotten two boxes of Kashi cereal and a box of Kashi bars for $5, thanks to a coupon I found on one of the boxes!

How sad is it that I'm really excited about March being Frozen Foods Month, and getting to stock my freezer on the cheap?

The road to bigger pants

Is paved with good intentions.

I have a confession - it's been, ahem, several days since I've made it to the gym.

Now, don't get me wrong. I haven't been sitting on my "blessed assurance" and eating bonbons. One day last week, I was running behind and did a session on my Gazelle. One day, I spent an hour cleaning two rooms in my house. Saturday, we took the dogs on a LOOOONG walk, culminating in a trip to the groomers, and I also spent three hours preparing entries for a newspaper contest. Sunday, we had a service called "Special Ops," which entailed the choir dressing up in camo and marching in. (And practicing that marching in several times - more on that later) And then, we spent four hours walking around town so we would still be in the area for that evening's business meeting.

Monday, I was so exhausted from Sunday (and still sore from all that marching/walking) that I slept in. Yesterday, Jason went to work at 2 a.m. so I couldn't leave the house. And then, we come to today.

Apparently, my little short legs don't like to march much. Apparently, my knees like it even less. Because, since Sunday, I have had a "comes and goes" pain in them, and this morning, wouldn't you know it, it came. I can't walk around my house without pain, so I was a little leery of putting the knee through its paces at the gym.

I know I could take some ibuprofen and go on, but I'm more concerned about treating the actual cause, and not just the symptoms.

So, this morning, no gym. Again. Some housework, but no cardio.

Good intentions. I have them. And hopefully they won't bring me a bigger pair of pants.

Dear God,

If you have a calendar up in Heaven, you know it's March 1.

Down here on earth, where the weather isn't a comfortable 72 degrees year round*, that means that winter needs to be over.

We, The Humans, are done with winter. Really. We don't need it anymore. You can have it back. We promise we took good care of it.

So, now that it's March, the weather can start to warm up and clear up and generally get nice and "pretty."

Keep up the good work!

xoxo,
Melissa

*We have a very toney suburb of Memphis, where the city keeps pretty strict tabs on what can/can't be done in the way of outdoor colors (down to blue trash cans instead of green because "they" think it looks better) and an old joke says that, in that town, it's a comfortable 72 degrees year-round.

(Guess you had to be {raised} there.)

Kroger Shakedown!

Geez Louise. You'd think that being the owner of my very own computer for the first time since college would afford me LOADS more time to blog.

Yeah, not so much.

Granted, I didn't go grocery shopping at all on Valentine's weekend. Anna Marie had two different performances in two different counties that day, in addition to church. I was going to go on Monday night, but my brakes were acting up on my van and the weather turned unexpectedly bad, so I stayed myself to home.

I did go to Walgreens, and got three boxes of Kellogg's cereal (two of which I gave to my sister) for $1.66 each and two boxes of Pop Tarts (for Jason) for $1 each.

So.

This past weekend, I was determined that I was going to shop. And I was thankful that Uncle Sam had made a deposit into my checking account, because I knew I needed to spend twice as much for missing a week!

I will interject here that the cashier made some cryptic remark to me upon checkout, which I think she meant to say that people like me (with The Coupons) were responsible for grocery prices going up.

I don't believe that for a minute. I'm pretty sure the prices of raw materials, as well as the rising price of transportation, are what made the groceries get more expensive.

But I digress.

Here's the rundown for this week:

1 (8 pack) Bounty paper towels
4 bottles of Kraft bbq sauce
2 cans Chunky Healthy Request gumbo
1 box Betty Crocker muffin mix (paper coupon + Shortcuts)
4 bags Martha White muffin mix
1 box Capri Suns
4 boxes of Betty Crocker fruit snacks (paper coupons + Cellfire + Shortcuts)
1 box of Lipton pyramid-shaped tea bags
1 McCormick seasoning grinder
3 Chef Boyardee microwave bowls
6 cups of Yoplait (paper coupon + Cellfire)
2 (2 liters) of Coke Zero
2.11 lbs bananas
3.38 lbs. apples
1 package Murray sugar free cookies
2 boxes of Orville Redenbachers popcorn
4 packages of sliced meats (turkey and ham)(On sale, + buy 3, get 1 free coupon)
1 loaf Natures Own light bread
1 bag coffee filters
1 tub of Land O Lakes spread
2 cans of Suave Professionals mousse

Total before coupons/deals: $109.66
Total after coupons/deals: $57.13
Total savings: $52.53 (49 percent)

Kroger was running one of their "Buy 10 of these things, get $3 off" promotions, and I qualified for two of those (a total of $6 off).

On Monday, I went to our local grocery store here and picked up some reduced-for-quick-sale steaks, a small roast, some chicken breasts, a couple of cans of store-brand vegetables, a half gallon of milk, two boxes of Betty Crocker instant potatoes, and an 8 lb. bag of potatoes. I spent about $25 more on all that. I hate that I've spent that much on groceries this week, but I hadn't been in two weeks, so I guess it evens out.

We have our annual business meeting at church this Sunday, but I'm going to have to find time to shop because this is my week to work late every night (and Anna Marie has her basketball awards night on Tuesday, so I'll be out even later than usual.)

At least with my new netbook, I can surf the web from my bed when I get home!

Best.Valentine's.Ever.

Sweet lawd, I've had an awesome Valentine's Day. Or days, since my celebrations started Friday night.

(I know there are some anti-Valentine's people out there. I am very sorry for you, because even if you either don't have a sweetheart, or think a day of forced affection is dumb, you can still celebrate love in general. You do love SOMEONE, right? RIGHT?)

Friday, Jason had to work unexpectedly, due to Tuesday's "weather situation" here in the Midsouth. He came home from work and, in a surprise move, said that my mom had offered her babysitting services if we wanted to go out for an early Valentine's date.

(Mom offering her services wasn't the surprise here. It was Jason wanting to go out after he'd been at work since 3 a.m.)

Somehow, we gathered our collective strength and went out to dinner at Logan's. Man, I love a good steak and a sweet potato!

When we got out to the parking lot to go home, he pulled out a huge red bag. Guess what was inside - can you guess? Well, can you?

Here's a hint: I'm typing on it right now!

That's right - he got me a netbook! A cute little 10" emachines, and I love it so much I'd probably marry it if I wasn't already spoken for.

(KIDDING, dear!)

But seriously? Having my own computer rocks. So many times I have to wait for Jason or Anna Marie to get off the desktop or the laptop before I can do something I need to do. No more! This baby is all mine!

(He gave it to me Friday night, because he knows me pretty well after all these years, and he correctly guessed that I'd be too distracted by the thought of a new toy during this morning's service to get anything out of it. He hit the nail on the head, as usual.)

Anna Marie had a look I can only describe as "crestfallen" when she saw it and realized it wasn't for her. I've never actually seen her so openly envious, and it made me very sad. I explained that it would keep her from having to wait for me to get done with one of the other computers, and that if I took good care of it, it might be passed down to her one day.

She was down with that.

Today, we had church, and Amanda met us at Cici's afterwards for lunch. We had some really good coupons (naturally) and I figured it was Anna Marie's turn to get a Valentine's treat, so we went to one of her favorite places. Amanda brought the dozen toffee bars I'd ordered Jason from her job, and surprised me with a dozen of their famous "pucker up" lemon mini cupcakes and Anna Marie with a little apron and a box filled with "love potion" cookies and a "baby pie."

Yes, we're all going to have horrible sugar hangovers in the morning. Did I mention that I'd already gotten Anna Marie a little box of chocolates this morning, or that she had a whole bag left over from school Friday? Or that Jason asked me to bake him a caramel cake last night?

We're all going to need a detox tomorrow. This might possibly be worse than Christmas.

Anna Marie also had her dance class's annual performance at a nursing home, and a handbell/choir concert tonight. Amanda came down to do laundry and spend time with The Kid, and they had a couple of rousing games of Battleship between them.

We have been busy, busy folks today.

It's raining/snowing again outside, and I'm not even sure if we'll have school tomorrow. The temperatures are supposed to drop into the mid-20's, and I'm a little worried about all that precipitation on the roads freezing.

At least if we get snowed in, we'll have plenty of sugar calories to sustain us.

Editor's note: Don't worry about Jason only getting toffee bars while I got a netbook. He's got a surprise winging its way from Amazon.com, if the weather will allow it to come through!

Kroger shakedown!

Yep, I went shopping this week. But this weather has us all thrown for a loop, so I'm just now getting around to posting my list.

I didn't get to go on my normal day, Sunday, because we were CRAZY busy. Our service at church was (way awesome and) football themed. Then, Anna Marie had a cousin's birthday party at a bowling alley. And finally, our small group had a Super Bowl party that night.

Like I said, crazy busy.

So, I had every intention of going Monday night, but when I stepped out the door headed towards the gym on Monday morning (in an attempt to work off the pizza/hotwings/brownies of the day before) I was greeted with the aforementioned snow. And I was all, "Huh? It wasn't supposed to snow!" But it did. And it was way messy outside. And I only worked for three hours, because I had AM with me while Jason went to Memphis.

And then when he got home after lunch - he took me to Kroger! Honestly, we didn't HAVE to have food on Monday, thanks to my stockpile. But it sure was nice!

Here's how my trip went:

3 boxes of Nature Valley granola bars (paper coupons, plus Cellfire/Shortcuts)
1 box of Capri Sun Roaring Waters
1 bag of Ronzoni whole wheat egg noodles
1 jar of Hardeez Salsa
1 bottle of Country Bob's steak sauce (for my dad - it's his favorite, and I had a coupon for a free bottle!)
2 packages of Kraft 2% cheese singles
1 box of Philly 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1 bottle of Softsoap
3 Cadbury caramel eggs (guess who THOSE were for?)
1 bottle of Sunny D fruit smoothie
2 bottles of Big K Diet Ginger Ale
3 2-liters of Pepsi products
1 20 oz Coke Zero (to go with his caramel eggs, of course!)
3.45 lbs of "ripe" bananas (at 39 cents a pound, and some were organic)
2.97 lbs of jonagold apples
2 bags of Green Giant steamers broccoli and cheese
4 boxes of Toaster Strudels (I'm set for about six months now)
2 bags of Chex Mix (paper coupons plus Cellfire for these)
2 boxes of Pop Secret 94% fat free popcorn
1 bag of Poppycock
1 package of Butterball turkey smoked sausage

Total before coupons: $88.34
Total after coupons: $40.76
Total savings: $47.58 (56%)

They were having their Mega Event again this week, so I saved $10 right there. I got home and realized I could have had a couple more Cellfire and Shortcuts coupons loaded on my card, but that would have been another $1.00 or so, and the trip was really a spur-of-the-moment thing.

One of the other "perks" I've noticed to all this couponing (besides eating at home more, because we have food available to us) is the savings on gas. Kroger gives 10 cents off per gallon with every 100 points you earn, and I get points based on my before-coupon savings, not my out-of-pocket expense. So Jason fills up at least once a month on the cheaper gas. Score!

I'd also like to give a "shout out" to my college chum Kathy Garvin, a fellow English major who started with The Grocery Game this week. She saved over 50% on her first trip! She's promised me her first-born son as a thank-you, but I'm sure she's gotten pretty attached to him by now - and I haven't clipped any Pullups coupons!

They're forecasting more snow for this weekend up here. I don't know what I'm going to do if Anna Marie has to miss any more school - at this point, we'll be looking at making the days up on Saturdays!

So much for "GLOBAL WARMING."

Hmph.

Someone needs to tell Al Gore that his little "Oh, no, the earth is about to burn up" scheme isn't working so well.

Anna Marie just had her FOURTH snow day of this year - as in, 2010.

School has been in session for just about a month, and already they've spent four of those days at home due to snow. She went back today, but some of our surrounding school systems are still out.

Currently, it's about 20 degrees COLDER than usual out there. It's barely above freezing.

As in, it's really, really, ridiculously cold out there - not above average. Not even average. Just really, really cold.

What do you have to say about that, Mr. Gore? Hmmm?

Maybe when it thaws out a little bit around here, we can have a little chat.

So, on Tuesday I knew…

What lies in the shadow of the statue.

On Wednesday, I knew…

not much else.

I don't know how many LOSTIES there are reading this, so all I'm going to say about this subject is that, while I did learn a few things from the premier, I was not as blown away by awesomeness as I was when I watched last season's finale.

I'm trusting that the writers know what they're doing. WE SHALL SEE.

•••

What I did know on Wednesday, though, was that I'd apparently only gotten three hours of sleep.

Someone asked me if it was caffeine, or maybe LOST, and someone else asked me if it was anxiety. Honestly, I don't know. It's just that sometimes, when I lie down to sleep, my heart starts to beat really, really hard - not fast, just HARD - and it keeps me from settling down and resting.

In retrospect, I think it was probably adrenalin. I had been going hard at it all day Tuesday. I had more to get done than I had time to do it, and miraculously, it got done.

Observe my schedule:

• Get Anna Marie off to school
• Find her a belt, because the pants she was wearing were too big and she forgot to grab one on the way out. I went back home and couldn't find one either, so, in the 15 minutes I had before I had to be back at the school to read to a couple of kindergarteners I help on Tuesdays I ran to Walmart, picked up a two-pack, and got to the school ON TIME.
• At the school, I had them summon Anna Marie to the office, and while she was putting on her belt she reminded me that I'd forgotten to give her any lunch money! "It's OK, mom, Ms. Sandy (her teacher) said she'd pay for it." Well, I had my checkbook, so I sent her back with her lunch funds for this month. Thanks, though, Ms. Sandy!
• Read to both of my kindergarteners
• Ran to the vet's office to pick up some Heartguard for the dogs
• Made it to work by 9 a.m.
• Wrote some stuff, answered some phone calls, sent/received some emails
• At lunch, I ran home to give the dogs their meds, and eat a bite myself
• Went to my favorite consignment shop to try and find Anna Marie a football team shirt to wear for our special service on Sunday (no luck)
• Drove across town to a sporting goods store, found her an Ole Miss shirt on clearance for $6
• Made it back to work ON TIME.
• Worked a few more hours, and went to a city board meeting which, miraculously, let out in time for me to get to my Women's Ministries meeting at church
• Drove half an hour to the town where the church is, grabbed a sandwich at Subway, and made it to the church (just about five minutes late)
• Spent about half an hour after the meeting, discussing my passion for saving money (and sanity) with coupons
• Drove home
• Hurriedly laid out my clothes for the next day, started a load of laundry, fixed my coffee pot up, and spent the next hour and a half watching LOST on the DVR.

Is there any wonder why I had trouble calming down after all that? My last cup of coffee had been around 4 p.m., and it was nearly 11 when I got to bed, but Amanda assures me that caffeine can stay in your system up to 12 hours.

I took two Benadryl last night to help my system calm down, and I did sleep better, but I'm still recovering from Tuesday.

If anyone has any suggestions as to what might be happening, I'd be glad to hear them!

I know…

What lies in the shadow of the statue!

Yay for the LOST premier - and since I'll probably be watching it on the DVR later tonight, I'll be avoiding the internet from the time it starts until I see it!

Kroger Shakedown!

Yes, it's a day early. Kroger is having a three-day sale, so our Listmaker at The Grocery Game put up a list today. There will be another tomorrow with the Sunday inserts, but it was worth it to me to go today.

Also, I don't normally make a special trip because the nearest Kroger is 14 miles away, but Jason needed a part for the Jeep from an auto parts store up there so we went. (We also took my mom, so she helped keep Anna Marie occupied. Grammas FTW!)

This was one of the best weeks I'd had in a LONG time. I now am officially out of space in my cabinets - which isn't saying much. I'll have to take a picture some time, so y'all know how truly limited my space is!

One of the great things about this week was the Mega Event, where you buy 10 of a certain group of items and get an extra $5 off. Usually they let you do that three times (getting a total of $15 off) and for the first time, I did the limit!

Here's how my trip went:

1 bottle of Kroger brand cleaner with bleach
1 box of Capri Sun Roaring Waters
2 cans of evaporated milk
1 box of Krusteaz muffin mix (low fat cranberry orange - yum!)
3 boxes of Fiber One Bars (I had three paper coupons, plus one Cell Fire and one Shortcuts coupon loaded on my Kroger card)
2 bottles of French's yellow mustard
2 bottles of French's honey mustard dip
1 bottle of Frank's Red Hot
4 boxes of Kraft mac and cheese (Sponge Bob edition - Anna Marie hasn't realized that yet!)
2 cans of Hormel Turkey Chili
3 cans of Hunts Diced Tomatoes (I had a paper coupon and a Shortcuts coupon on my card)
2 packages of Kraft shredded 2% milk cheese
1 package of Philadelphia 1/3 less fat cream cheese (for my mom, who was only getting a couple of things and not doing the Mega Event)
1 Cadbury caramel egg (for Jason, natch)
1 20 oz. Coke Zero (also, of course, for Jason)
1 dozen eggs (the kind from chickens, not bunnies this time)
5 six packs of half-liter Coke products (for Jason to sell at the auction, so I'll get this $10 back)
1 2-liter caffeine free Diet Pepsi
2.65 lbs of bananas
1 four-pound bag of navel oranges
1 red onion
2 bell peppers
1 box of Ritz crackers
2 boxes of Cheeze-its
1 box of whole wheat saltines
1 bag of Quaker Quakes (which I realized I DIDN'T use a coupon for, so I could have saved another 75 cents! Ugh!)
1 package Johnsonville turkey sausages
1 package light hot dog buns
2 boxes of Toaster Strudel (I had a paper coupons plus a Shortcuts loaded on my card)
1 box of Success boil-in-bag rice (for free, thanks to an email from someone at their PR firm who saw my post about buying the Kroger brand on THIS BLOG and sent me a coupon! Score!)

Total before coupons/sale: $116.75
Total after coupons/sale: $49.56
Total savings: $67.19 (59%)

As Stacy London says (because I've been watching a What Not to Wear marathon today):
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! Who pays over $100 for that many groceries? (If that's YOU, then we need to do an intervention, hon.) The $15 Mega Event savings isn't taken off until the cashier hits the total button, and before she did it was $94! That plus the coupons brought the total down to less than half.

I do still need some cereal for myself, and Walmart has their pizzas on sale for less than Kroger this week (thanks to the Super Bowl) so I'll get one there for Jason and Anna Marie to have while I work Tuesday night. I'd also like to stop by Aldi tomorrow after church to pick up some turkey meatballs so I can make some Hawaiian meatballs this week. I have several bottles of barbeque sauce in the cabinet that I got for next-to-nothing a few months ago, plus those pineapples I got for 24 cents a can last week and the (FREE) Success Rice. Just add some bell peppers, and we've got ourselves an inexpensive, healthy meal.

But still - I will come out having spent about $50 of my own money, and have really enough food to last two weeks if I needed (or more.)

I love stockpiling!

Book review: The Gospel According to LOST

How stoked am I about this book, and next week's premier?

PRETTY DANG STOKED!!!!!

So, thankfully, I finished this book in the nick of time. And I have some free time, since there's a terrible winter storm outside, our bosses are all off at a conference, and we got out of work early because of the weather. I sit here on my bed, typing on the laptop my mom so graciously loaned us because Jason's is in the shop, in my VELOUR JUMPSUIT!

As soon as I get myself a cup of hot tea, my life will be perfect.

I am so glad I read The Gospel According to LOST by Chris Seay before the new season started. I just started watching LOST last year, just before the end of the fifth season (and I caught up all five seasons in just a couple of months) so I needed something to help tie the show's rather convoluted plots together.

This book filled that bill quite nicely.

Seay analyzes several of the main characters, showing us how each one shows us something from the Gospel. Although I'm quite sure the creators of the show aren't particularly religious, there are many influences from Christianity throughout the series. Seay helps dissect the characters and their motivations, and tie in all of the symbolism woven into the plot. Seay is a fan of the show, and it shows in the care and respect he takes with the material

He uses the stories in LOST much like Jesus did - as parables to teach us precepts in a practical way.

If you are looking for a way to get even more out of your viewing of LOST and talk to other LOSTIES about it in a faith-centered way, you can pick up your copy

here or here.

Kroger shakedown!

Two weeks worth, that is.

Yes, I went grocery shopping last week, but "life" got in the way of me posting this. But don't fear! I'm making it up to you this week.

You're welcome!

Last week, I stopped at Aldi and picked up a couple of things I knew I could get cheaper there - like a couple of cans of black beans, and some canned diced tomatoes - because they weren't on sale at Kroger.

That being said, here is my list from January 17:

2 boxes of Swiss Miss cocoa
3 cans of Hunts tomatoes (I thought I had a Shortcuts coupon, but a check of my receipt revealed it didn't work!)
2 packages of Dole diced peaches
4 cans of Campbell soup
1 package of Fleishman's margarine
1/2 gallon of milk
2 packages of Danimals smoothies
1 package of Danimals crush cups
3 lbs. of bananas
1 Kroger brand pizza (for Jason and Anna Marie when I worked late)
1 bag of Birdseye peas
2 bunches of green onions
1 box of Nabisco 100 Calorie chocolate covered pretzels
4 Armour lunchables
1 loaf Natures Own light bread
2 bags of some new snacks called Riceworks, which are a little like a cross between a Dorito and a Wheat Thin. (I had two coupons, but they weren't on sale, and I realized later that they were cheaper at Walmart. Boo!)

Total before coupons/sales: $65.05
Total after coupons/sales: $37.26
Total savings: $27.79 (44%)

Now, for yesterday's rundown:

2 bottles of Heinz Ketchup
4 (8 oz) cans of Dole pineapple
2 cans of Rosarita refried beans
2 packages of Ortega taco seasoning
1 package Folgers Gourmet Selections Hazelnut coffee
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of black beans
1 Hersheys bar (for Anna Marie)
1 Reeses big cup (for Jason - I've got to stop going shopping with those two in tow!)
1 20 oz. Coke Zero (you guessed it - for Jason)
2.57 lbs. bananas
3.11 lbs. Granny Smith apples
1 bag of Clementines
2 DiGiorno 200-calorie pizzas
1 full-sized DiGiorno pizza (for The Redheads, because I have to work tonight)
2 boxes of popcorn
2 packages of Hillshire Farms meat

Total before coupons/savings: $67
Total after coupons/savings: $38.59
Total savings: $28.41 (44%)

Since Jason and I ended our meat fast yesterday, I will probably hit up our local supermarket for a Boston Butt and some chicken breasts that are on sale this week.

My cabinet is getting full again, and my freezer will be that way soon - yay for stockpiling!